001good evening good evening this is a regular scheduled board of education meeting sorry let me get some spot here the board was in executive session with one of our attorneys eric levine in accordance with open meeting law 105d discussions regarding proposed pending or current litigation power school and open meeting laws 105f specific personnel matters or development agenda review In a moment, I'm going to call up Mr. Rothberg from Stagecoach Elementary with his student to lead us in the pledge. I would ask you, when you rise for the pledge, to please remain standing for a video of one of our students, Thomas Lasher, a senior from Newfield High School, who will be singing the Star-Spangled Banner. Oh, it's on. Okay. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
002for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, and liberty and justice for all. You may all be seated. Good evening. Great job, Mason, on the pledge. I would like to introduce Mason Rodriguez, who is the Elementary Student of the Month. He is a fifth grade student in Ms. Emerson's class. He is joined here tonight by his proud family. You want to wave right there? And his teacher, Mrs. Emerson, thanks for coming. Mason and I have grown very close during his five years or four years at Stagecoach. It's going to be really kind of sad thinking that he's not going to be there next year. Whenever I see Mason in the hallways, I just kind of say, hey, Mace, how's it going? Smile to him. He usually has his Chromebook open. He's staring at the
003screen. He has one hand under the Chromebook, the other hand typing away while he's walking. He won't look up. He'll kind of give me a pound, right? Give me a pound. So, just like that. And then it'll go back typing. It's kind of amazing that he hasn't dropped it yet, knock on wood. But he's really good at that. So, it's really impressive. Mason is a computer whiz. He just blows me away with all his knowledge. He tries to kind of tell me what he's doing. I don't understand what he's saying. It's totally over my head. He's just brilliant when it comes to computers, and he has a proud future, a really great future ahead of him. I'm just so proud of how successful Mason has become in all aspects of life. He's worked really hard,
004persevered. It's just really extremely rewarding to see how much Mason has grown through his years at Stagecoach. He's just so... lucky to have a great set of parents, his whole family there, that have come out to support him. Really couldn't have done it without them. Mason's success is really a true example of collaboration between school and home. Mason is who he is because of his family, the teachers he's had, and that's why he's so successful today. So as I said, I'll miss Mason next year. I wish him all the best. all the luck in the world going to middle school. And just remember that everything we've taught you, always listen to your parents and you'll find success and achieve everything you want in life. So on behalf of the Board of Education, congratulations. Congratulations. and
005now if i could please have um joining me at the podium dr siegel miss pacifico and any of the students who are here this evening that were at albany the albany lobbying trip if you could just come and uh stand here in front of the stage facing the audience and no that's okay and um the adults that were on the trip as well if you want to come and stand up here as well please i just want to take a moment to acknowledge these students we had our first um lobbying day in Albany. This was the first year we've done it in I'm gonna say many many years and as you can see we had a great amount of students who are interested in joining us this day in Albany and I will say We
006were so proud of all of these students. They were so well prepared. They were respectful. They were able to really direct the conversation because we all know sometimes how people like to direct it into a different way and they were very respectful and would bring it back to the points that they wanted to advocate for. and even one of the elected officials had made a comment that these students she was so impressed by them our newly elected assemblywoman rebecca cassay because she said they were truly there advocating for others they weren't advocating for themselves and she thought that that was so admirable so we were extremely proud of them This evening we're going to be giving them certificates of pride from middle country and then also on behalf of Assemblyman Doug Smith's office as well
007for their work that they did that day and they were phenomenal for middle country and we're so proud of them we have some 11th graders that say they want to return and do this again and the 12th graders i have said to them i hope they carry this on even when they leave middle country so i'm now going to turn it over to miss pacifico and she's going to call the names of all the students we'll start with our center reach students i'm david aguilar who i know is not here this evening uh jess angel almonte i believe is here Chloe Arnaz, who I don't think is with us. Mahika Araya. Christina Bacci. Yohani Chen, who I think I saw. Sena Ekaji. Merab Kashif. Joseph Kurian. I didn't think I saw Joseph. Ahmed Malik. Ava
008Matlock, who I don't think is with us this evening. Jed Resultin, I did see. Ben Tashiak, right, Ben. Jamal Tostin. Sarah Williams. And Jayden Yule, I think I saw. And now our Newfield students. Jamie Almendrez-Bajorona, who I don't believe is with us this evening. Jordan Brooks. Emma Havishraw, who I know is not with us this evening. Leanne Wynn. Daniel Landren. Thomas Lasher, Julia Lazuski, Madison McCormick, James Stafford, who I think we saw, okay, and Ava Stebbins. Congratulations again, and thank you. And again, if we could just give them another round of applause, because they were truly amazing that day. And I will say again, I hope that you all continue your advocacy. It's such a special gift to give back and to speak for others and sometimes speaking for those who don't have a voice,
009you are their voice. So I applaud you all and I thank you and I wish you all the best and keep up your advocacy issues. Do you want me to just, I'm going to hand out to the adults that were on the trip. And then we'll do a group shot. Is that okay? Okay. next we can't not acknowledge the adults that and the staff members that were involved in this day as well i've said it numerous times i can't thank dr siegel and miss pacifico enough i said i wanted to grow the student involvement and they truly ran with it and as you can see this is just some of the students we've had great involvement i thank them i also think we had several chaperones they were up at 4 30 in the morning
010taking a bus to albany to then walk around all day and then take a bus home so we can't thank them enough because without that involvement from our staff this day doesn't happen for our students so we are truly grateful for that so i'd like to present dr cook miss pacifico dr siegel miss scott Dr. Salts, Ms. Kohler, and then we also have, I'm not sure if she's here this evening, Ms. Reznikoff? No, okay, so we have the certificate of pride for her as well. Yes, thank you. And Ms. Smith, is she here? Okay, we also have one for her, so we thank her very much. We thank all of them, and again, round of hands. You guys are amazing, thank you. And now I'm going to call Dr. Cook to the podium. Oh, yes,
011sorry. Hi, everyone. Jessica Zeng. Are you here? Can you come up? Jessica? There she is. Come on up. I saw some art teachers out in the audience. You're welcome to join me up here if you'd like. No? Okay. I just thought I would try. Come on over. Come on this side so they can see you. Okay. Hi, Jessica. So Jessica did something very cool. She won the course offering book cover this year. This is the cover. Jessica's at Center Ridge High School. She's in Ms. Kiesling's computer graphics class, college. The college computer graphics class, which we offer through Suffolk Community College, and the kids get three credits for it, which is pretty cool. And Jessica competed against all the kids at Center Ridge and Newfield in those classes and came up with this very cool
012design. So first of all, because I don't want to forget. There are your winnings and we have a certificate of recognition that we'd like to give her and I have a thing to play Vanna White all the time So Jessica is gonna go on stage and hand her winning cover to every board member that's up there So she's gonna proceed up stage right now. All right, she's going Because everybody should have a copy of it, right? So she did a really nice job. It was highly competitive. I had a stack like this from both classes. And they really, kids entered multiple times if they had more ideas. So I was very impressed with Jessica's design. The curriculum committee voted on it. That's about 20 people. So, you know, it was very cool to have Jessica
013win this. Excellent. And then Jessica's going to come back down and I'll give her her certificate now. Notice I did the winnings first. notice she took the winnings first so she won $25 which is cool so here you go again Jessica congratulations okay next we're going to do Neskame all County students are 11th and 12th graders so if you're here please come up and line up like we did with the last group so that we can get you in here I have any music teachers in the audience that would like to help hand these out Come on up. I know we were supposed to have a couple. There we go. I see Miss Bush. I see Mr. Martinez. Miss Kohler, you're welcome to join us. No? Okay. Miss Washington, would you like to join us?
014Friends of Music president, come on up. Miss Lasher, Friends of Music vice president, you can come on up too. The more the merrier. First, this is good. It's all right. It's all right. First, I need a volunteer to go up on stage and hand one of these to each of the board members. There we go. That is the program from the concert that these students played in November along with a picture of them at the rehearsals all together that you all saw on our website, our Facebook, our social media, our Instagram and stuff. So we printed it out so the board members could take home a picture of you because everybody should have a picture of you for the front of their fridge, right? Alright, excellent. So what I have for you today is a
015congratulations, a certificate of pride. Now pride is the highest level you can go in the county, so you as 11th and 12th graders have reached the highest level. If you noticed, I didn't bring you up as 5th to 10th graders, first of all because there's 70 of you then, but second of all because this is the highest you could do in the county because... What happens as fifth and sixth graders is there's three divisions? Central East and West okay, then they make two divisions as seventh and eighth graders So less kids get selected okay, then for 910 they do the two divisions again And it's just as selective and then as 1112 they do one division for all of Suffolk County Do you get it? It's like a pyramid. You're smart right you got it
016See they've nod when I say you're smart. This is good, so It is very selective, it's very hard to get in, it's the most common phone call I get is my kid made All-County every year from fifth to 10th grade, why didn't they get in at 11th? And the reason is now we're down to one site, just one. I'm seeing, okay, we're good? All right. So anyway, so it's very selective, very hard to get in, and these kids did it. So first let's give them a round of applause. And I have for you your certificate of pride for middle country on top of your Neskame High School All-County certificate directly from Neskame. So you're going to get both, okay? So I'm going to read off names, and then you guys keep handing them to them.
017Here we go. Zachary Atkinson from Mixed Chorus, Tenor 2, Center Ridge High School. Next. Center Ridge High School, Yohani Chen, All-County Symphonic Band, Piccolo. and her cheering section. Then I have Sean Edbert, symphonic band French Horn. Jillian Garcia, Old County Orchestra, Viola. Jaden Gonzalez, mixed chorus, Alto II. Logan Millwater, mixed chorus, Bass I. Matthew Susie Valley, symphonic band trumpet. Zachary Vasconarian. Oh I'm so close. Vasconarian. Oh that's good. Vasconarian. He is in the Old County Chorus, Bass 2. Gavin Wallen, Mixed Chorus, Tenor 2. Joelle Washington, Treble Chorus, Alto 1. Presented by the Friends of Music president, her mother. Love it. Okay. Sarah Williams, Orchestra Viola. Rowan Willis. Mixed Chorus, Tenor 2. Alan Zheng, Mixed Chorus, Tenor 1. Peyton Ostromovich, Mixed Chorus, Tenor 2. Kyle Bogad, Mixed Chorus, Tenor 2. Kayden Davis, Symphonic Band, French Horn.
018Justin DeRosalia, Symphonic Band, Percussion. Ryan Goodelenas, All-County Mixed Chorus, Tenor 2. Thomas Lasher, Symphonic Band, Euphonium. Alyssa Macari, Symphonic Band, Clarinet. Grace Simonelli, Viola, All-County Orchestra. And James Stafford III, Symphonic Band, Euphonium. Let's hear it for our 11th, 12th grade elitist, all-countiest. I made up a word there. Congrats. And we're going to do our picture now as well, so do exactly what we just did. Get in window tall and make sure you can see. Yeah, we're getting in. Let's go. Nisbett is next. If you're a Nisbett-ic, you can come up. Nisbett-a? It's, yeah, Yohani, Matt, and James. Yohani, Matt, and James. Yohani, Matt, and James. Come on up. All right, next. They're so excited about the last award, they weren't thinking about the next award. The New York State Band Directors Association Symposium is in
019Syracuse, New York. It's highly competitive to get in, and we had three students selected this year. One that gets to go because, and I'm going to explain this with the All-State as well, if you qualify and they run out of room, you're called an alternate. So some get to go and some qualify, and then we wait for someone to drop out. But in my book, if you were good enough to make it and make alternate, you get a certificate and you get to be part of things because you made it. It's just a matter of how much room they can fit on the stage, how many people they can fit there. And I'm glad they pick alternates because then you know that you made it. You know that you achieved. It's not like you're sitting
020there saying, what else should I have done? Now it's just a matter of room and proficiency list. Because they have to go around the county, county, state, they have to go around the state and pick from each area. That's sometimes what makes the difference. So keep that in mind, but we're very proud of you here in middle country, which is why you're up here now in front of everyone and live streamed to all our friends at home, okay, so that you can be honored for your award. So first of all, Yohani's gonna get to go. It's next, it's, yeah, it's March. Hold on. It's March 7th. She'll be up in Syracuse, New York. New York. Hold on, my accent kicked in badly there. Yohani, I'm gonna give you your certificate and ask you to go
021deliver these up top. Then I have James Stafford from Newfield High School, Euphonium. And Matthew Susie Valley from Center Ridge High School, Trumpet. So it is quite an accomplishment to go. What I like about Nisbeta is that they honor the kids that scored so high, also didn't make Allstate, then we get another layer of kids that can hopefully get into Nisbeta, because they won't take you if you got into Allstate. And then they have another layer with the alternates, and then we stay there and hope. And we still have two more weeks of hope, okay, because they can still pull people in. Not likely at this point, but you never know. I mean, people get sick. all right so um when he comes back i'm getting laughed at because you know um i'm not arranging
022for people to get sick just that was what you were implying yo honey congratulations All right, last and not certainly least, we have our Allstate students. These are our best in the state. We're very excited. They are doing a costume change right now, and I'm going to explain the costume change, okay? It was a little hot to wear a hoodie today, but we needed to show these off. Our Allstate kids, I apply every year for a grant from the Middle Country Education Foundation. so that our Allstate kids can get these hoodies so that when they're up in Allstate, they're showing off that they're middle country musicians. So my first thing I'm gonna say is come on over and show off your shirts. Come on over. You too, come on. See? Show everybody. Show everybody. Now
023here's the cool part. If you made Allstate the first time, we start with a white hoodie. When you make a second time, I can't give you a second white hoodie, so we switch to black. So we have a level of achievement here. The red and green is because they forgot them at home, but they're bookends. I love them anyway, it's okay. So, we have models though. We have the white one, we have the black one. And I love, can I tell you how jealous the other schools are on the bus? Because no other school district does this. And they're like, where did you get those middle country hoodies? That's cool. And I'm within copyright because it doesn't say NISMA anywhere on it. Got that it says middle country New York all-state musician, so I'm very
024proud of our our all-state musicians here Okay, it means that they basically had to get a hundred on an all-state solo Which is as high as you could go some of them had to get it two years in a row before they could go because I can tell you our alternates from last year had to wait to this year to get in Because it you know as I explained before when they run out of room on the stage they qualify But we can't fit them in so this year we fit in Two of them, we have Thomas Lasher and Sean Edbert. And three went as alternates, which means we're gonna honor them here tonight, but they didn't actually get to go to Rochester and play, which was Allstate's loss, I must say, don't you think?
025All right, 100%, so let's go. So here we go, you guys ready? All right, alternate, Allstate Symphonic Band, Yohani Chen. Can you go hand these out? Allstate Symphonic Band alternate, Jillian Garcia. All-State Symphonic Band Alternate, Rowan Willis. Oh, chorus, all right, we'll fix that. All-State Chorus, it's all good. Thomas Lasher, All-State Symphonic Band on euphonium. And Sean Edbert, All-State Symphonic Band on French horn. So let's hear it for our All-State students. Congratulations, best in the state. And let's take our picture. And the board now has the program that we played in December, so you can look and see all the cool music that they played and see their names in there, and our high school's represented. So I love that they do that, to put the student's name in the high school. And we're going
026to take a picture now. And I'm going to pass on the mic now. And now for our Athletes of the Month, if I could please have Mr. Mercado to the podium. Good evening. It's my pleasure to introduce our Athletes of the Month, but before I do so... I need to add in one small addition. Joining us straight from their first playoff win of the year and heading to the county semifinals on Tuesday at Whitman, so everybody go buy your tickets, the girls' center-reach varsity basketball team came in this evening right after their win, so I want to congratulate them. And because Dr. Cook took so long and they are so hungry, she will be buying you dinner tonight. They want to go. See they were even asking to take your picture and I said you
027guys want to go and eat. Do you want to do a picture? They're running out. They're gone. We'll see them when they win the county championship. Like I said, they were extremely hungry. So first I'd like to start off with our Newfield Girls Athlete of the Month for the month of January, as voted on by the Middle Country coaching staff. And that is Newfield fencer, Miss Sophie Chen, and she'll be joining me up here at the podium. So Coach Palmaccio couldn't be here this evening. She told me, actually, to speak on her behalf, and she refused to send me something saying, I knew enough about you to speak about you. So I'm going to try to give this a shot. I have known Sophie for, since she was, the first time I ever saw Sophie
028was actually right here in this spot. Dr. Cook had the piano out, and I think she was about six years old and was playing the piano. Sophie is now a member of our field hockey team and our fencing team, and she is an all-county fencer and probably one of the best student athletes that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. So when I tell you that there is very few athletes that can meet the criteria and the bar that Sophie Chen sets, that is speaking lightly. So congratulations to Sophie Chen. You want to take a picture with me? Next up is staying on the Newfield side. Newfield fencing had such a sensational season. Also a male athlete won for athlete of the month, and that is Matt Kresser. So you're going to be hearing
029a lot more about Newfield fencing at a future Board of Ed meeting as they just finish off their fifth consecutive county championship win. Matt was a huge part of that and his coach was nice enough to send words along for me This month's athlete of the month for Newfield High School is Matt Kresser Matt is a senior and captain He is the type of athlete and member of a team you look for as a coach Matt is always looking to make not just himself better, but the team better He is the first one at practice and the last one to leave this year. He had his best season to date finishing 32 and 4 He qualified for the individual county tournament and received all league and all county honors. Matt has been an absolute pleasure
030to coach over the past four years. Congratulations, Matt. Next up is our center reach athletes of the month, and we'll start with the males, and that is Dan Collar, and he'll be introduced by his coach, Mr. Brandon Giller. How you doing? So yeah, Dan has continuously improved throughout his career in the Boys Varsity Track and Field program. And he has been our top performer on the track for the past two years. He came into this senior season with goals much higher than simply being the best runner on our team. He was determined to reach the New York State meet and become league champion. On his way to his goals, he took either first or second place in all his races this season. He then hit his career best time in late December at the New
031York State Armory when he ran a 1 minute and 23.9 seconds in the 600 meter race. That time was not only a personal record, but also fast enough to qualify for the New York State Championship. Soon after we entered the postseason in January, when Dan successfully achieved his goal of being crowned the 600-meter League One champion, he sadly, the following week, suffered an injury that would keep him out of the state qualifier. This was without a doubt the hardest thing that Dan has had to overcome thus far. But he kept a positive attitude throughout the remainder of the season, supporting his teammates at every practice, and even though he was unenable to run, he still came through. This is what stands out about Dan, even more than his achievements on the track. He's a great
032teammate and an absolute pleasure to coach and be around. As we look back at the season, we acknowledge Dan's impressive performances and leadership qualities, which earned him this award tonight. But we also look ahead to the next month, where Dan will have another opportunity to compete. That qualifying time he ran at the armory was also fast enough to qualify for the Nike National Competition in March. We wish him the best of luck in his recovery and training to prepare for the honor of competing in the national meet. Next is our Center Reach Female Athlete of the Month, and she is from our Center Reach Kickline Team, and that is Lily Lacey, and she'll be introduced by her head coach, Ms. Jessica Cassioli. Hello, everyone. I am so excited to speak about my athlete, Lily Lacey,
033at tonight's Athlete of the Month Awards. Lily is a second-year athlete with our team, but has been dancing the duration of her life. She started dancing with us last year as just an eighth grader, walking over each day to practice. Over time, she continued to gain strength, work hard, and eventually audition for our competitive winter program this current season. Lily worked so diligently to check off the skills needed for our winter program this season. She never stopped working and setting goals for herself. I always noticed her practicing in silence or asking educated questions about the material given. She was involved in multiple plays, choirs, and other extracurriculars across the season, and she managed to handle it all with balance, grace, and perseverance. On top of Lily earning her place on this team, she has showcased
034kindness, helpfulness, and gratitude towards her teammates and coaches. It truly is an honor working with her as we continue to bond over each experience the team has faced head-on all season. Sometimes those experiences can be challenging physically, mentally, and emotionally, but it never deterred her commitment and dedication to her team. I am proud of her beyond words and can't wait to see her continue to win both on and off the dance floor. Please join me in congratulating her on this well-deserved accomplishment. Next for our middle country athletes of the month. Actually, our female is not here. She was one of those very hungry young ladies from basketball, and we weren't prepared for them to speak tonight. We didn't know what time they were going to get back, so we'll see her later in March. But
035I'll introduce our middle country male athlete of the month, and I'm very proud to introduce this young man. He says nothing. He does not speak. I actually got him to do a take a lap video with me, and he had to speak for six minutes straight. And it was like probably the most he's ever spoken. But he does have the best smile in all of middle country. And that is Mr. Josh Hayes from Newfield Basketball. Everybody smile at Josh so you can see that big smile. So Coach Gallo couldn't be here this evening, but he sent along these words. The Newfield Boys basketball program is extremely proud of Josh during the month of January. Being Athlete of the Month is the cherry on top of his high school basketball career. During the month of January,
036the two-time all-conference player was critical in securing a playoff spot. The team had its back to the wall needing four straight wins to secure a playoff berth. One loss would have eliminated us from the postseason. Josh averaged over 20 points and over 10 rebounds per game in this stretch. Don't let this gentleman's million-dollar smile fool you, though. On the court, his killer instinct to put teams away with his fluid paint moves or his three-point threat is quite the opposite of his smile. The program instills that all players are gentlemen in the hallways and not to be problematic or disruptive in the classroom, yet problematic and disruptive on the court. If you've ever seen Josh walking in the halls or you have had the pleasure to have him as a student, Josh is the best example
037of this. The program is excited for Josh to take his talents to the next level as he's committed to play right next door at St. Joe's next season. Selfishly, we are happy he stayed local so we can all support him in his next chapter. Congratulations to Josh Hayes on being Middle Country Athlete of the Month. Thank you. I just want to congratulate all the students and staff that we acknowledge this evening and I think it's such a great example on a night like tonight how many opportunities the students have here at Middle Country where we honored athletes we honored musicians artists advocacy so I just think that's pretty cool and I just wanted to acknowledge that it's nights like this that are really enjoyable so thank you for everybody involved in that Now for our
038PTA PTSA report if I could please have Miss Nelson PTA vice president from Stagecoach Elementary School to the podium Good evening. My name is Kim Nelson. I am with Stagecoach Elementary School PTA. We are embarking on the last leg of our school year. The sun is shining. Everybody is happy. We are very grateful to be a part of a PTA to offer our families and our students enrichments, especially in elementary school. We feel that it is a defining and fundamental part of the children's educational journey. Right now we are embarking on our week of PARP, which is Pick a Reading Partner. It is a PTA, New York State PTA sponsored event. It is designed to introduce families to literature and to invite them to read together. Our theme this year is Wicked, Wizard of Oz.
039It's going to be reading is wicked fun. So we will... decorate the school to make it immersive for the kids. We're looking to do like a yellow brick road and have them be able to. Write their name on a brick on the way to the library for every book that they read We're very lucky to have the teachers do stuff in the school for the kids. They do Mystery readers the teachers take turns of reading to their students. They do drop everything and reads And then of course we reward them for all their hard work with the packets that we send home to encourage them to read together we have uh bingo a candy bar bingo which the kids absolutely love which is put on by mr lacy and we will do a family reading
040of excuse me a movie night which will show the wizard of oz and beyond that we're just very happy to welcome all the wonderful things that we'll be doing for the end of the year as well okay thank you Thank you and on behalf of the Board of Education we thank you and all of your PTA members and boards for all that they do and all the time they volunteer to ensure the students have a great experience here at Middle Country so thank you. And now for a special presentation and instructional budget overview I'm going to turn the microphone over to Mr. Singer. Ed, are you able to put my slideshow up? good evening everyone i appreciate the chance to share with some details about our instructional budget planning for the 2025-26 school year our
041instructional staff include 714 classroom teachers special educators school counselors what many of you may remember as guidance counselors social workers psychologists and speech therapists these are supported by 202 teaching assistants Included in these numbers are 23 pre-K teachers and teaching assistants who will not be reflected in the numbers being reported today. While the upcoming slides will necessarily have a lot of numbers on them, I will also be highlighting some details about the programs these proposed expenditures would fund, as well as some accomplishments and goals. While the graduation last June of the first class of students with a capstone graduation requirement may not seem at first blush like an elementary achievement, it really is. The class of 2024, many of whom attended our first STEM celebration in the spring of 2015, started developing their research skills
042as elementary students, and every single one of them completed their capstone requirement on time for graduation. Since then, we have grown from three capstone projects to four, and we have added a literacy expo, which has now been expanded to encompass the humanities more broadly. What began as an inquiry learning experiment at the elementary level has become part of the fabric of what it means to be a student in middle country. Our core elementary program provides instruction to just over 3,600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade across 151 classes in eight elementary schools and two kindergarten centers. This number makes Middle Country the fourth largest district on Long Island in terms of elementary enrollment. The core elementary program is supplemented through the Title I, II, and IV grants, providing professional learning and collaboration opportunities for teachers,
043and supports special events like our district-wide humanities expo coming up on Monday, March 24th, and STEM celebration on May 19th. Please note that these figures do not include specials like art, music, and physical education or special education, as these costs will be addressed in later slides. Serving 5,073 students in grades 6 through 12 across two middle schools and two high schools, our secondary program is expanding student opportunity through the adoption of New York State seals and endorsements. At present, we offer the Career and Technical Education, CTE, Individual Arts Assessment Pathway, IAAP, and Seal of Civic Readiness endorsements, each providing a 4 plus 1 graduation pathway for students in addition to diploma recognition. Looking ahead to coming changes in graduation requirements, we are currently at work building the seal of biliteracy endorsement to provide an additional
044opportunity for students to demonstrate skill mastery in this new framework. We have fully implemented an inquiry learning curriculum strand with all students completing capstone projects at both the middle and high school levels and are proud of our middle country students representing us in regional, state, and national competitions. Turning to our secondary departments, we begin with ELA. In addition to providing core ELA instruction each year in grades 6 through 12, students have access to three elective courses and four advanced placement or dual enrollment courses, offering access to college credits for students while still enrolled in high school, giving them a head start on their post-secondary education. As a foundational skill for students to fully access and engage in the other disciplines, and as the core skill needed for a non-negotiable Regents exam, at least for the
045next year, literacy remains a key focus of our secondary instructional program. In mathematics, students receive targeted instruction in grades 6 and 7 to prepare them for enrollment in Algebra 1 in 8th grade. This universal acceleration provides students with added time in their high school careers to access higher level mathematics through advanced placement and dual enrollment courses. Elective courses at the high school level provide options for exploration of special interests and access to math-based capstone research opportunities. Students enroll in mathematics during each year of their high school attendance to ensure that they maintain the practice of mathematical reasoning through graduation to foster readiness for their post-secondary plans. Through careful curriculum writing and arrangement of pacing guides in grades 6 and 7, we are able to enroll students in biology for their 8th grade year. This paves
046the way for access to advanced studies through dual enrollment and AP courses in high school. In addition to courses leading to the New York State Regents' examinations in biology, earth science, chemistry, and physics, students can choose from a menu of elective courses as either a course selection or to explore an area of interest. A focus on providing research opportunities has led to engagement with the Ward-Melville Heritage Organization Long Island Sound Study, Stony Brook University Offshore Wind Energy Symposium, and increased participation in high school competitions like the Long Island Science Congress. Social studies teachers engage students in developing the skills needed to better understand their world through gradually increasing complexity from grades 6 through 12. All students engage in an eighth grade capstone project built on the National History Day model, providing an opportunity for students
047to present their research locally and the opportunity to advance to higher levels of competition. In addition to this core instructional program, students may choose from two electives and seven advanced placement and dual enrollment courses. Through carefully structured and embedded research projects, students in the Leadership and Contemporary Issues electives complete a portion of the requirements for the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness, entitling them to a diploma endorsement as well as a 4 plus 1 graduation pathway. Students begin instruction in world languages in seventh grade, choosing between Spanish, Italian, and French, with the opportunity to earn a credit toward graduation by the end of their eighth grade year. Once in high school, students can continue their world language journey as a popular pathway to earning an advanced Regents diploma and then may challenge themselves with
048up to two years of dual enrollment or one year of dual enrollment followed by one year of advanced placement study in their language of choice. Given our students' performance and interest in world language study and in anticipation of full implementation of the New York State Portrait of a Graduate, We are working on implementing the seal by literacy with the class of 2029. This will serve as an endorsement for students who demonstrate mastery in both English and a world language. ENL teachers provide both primary ELA instruction and stand-alone ENL language acquisition to 833 active English language learners, along with ongoing support and accommodations for 206 students who have scored at the commanding level on the New York State NYSASLAT exam. English language learners come from diverse backgrounds, currently representing 21 different home language with the most
049common being Spanish, Urdu, Bengali, Turkish, and Creole languages. You may notice that this slide indicates a zero dollar allocation for textbooks resources and for materials and supplies. This is due to the careful use of grant funding to provide supplemental resources and materials. Our special education department serves 1,478 students with IEPs from K-12 through in-district programs and another 123 students at out-of-district placements. In addition, they supervise services for another 318 students under the age of 5 through CPSC. Services are provided through a range of programs allowing students the least restrictive environment in which they can achieve success while enjoying the fullest possible school experience. Specialized programs like unified basketball provide an athletic experience for students with disabilities who are unable to participate in the general athletic program at our high schools. And Best Buddies clubs at
050both the middle school and high school level provide students an integrated experience with peers developing athletic, social, and motor skills. Here, the material and supplies code is considerably more than many other departments, and this is due to the specialized and individual needs of our students. Moving now to Related Arts, we are proud of the range of opportunities we provide and the achievements of the students who have taken advantage of these. In addition to providing two 4 plus 1 pathway options, our Related Arts program offers 14 elective courses with embedded capstone research projects. Middle country students compete in DECA, virtual enterprise, robotics, NISMA, SCMEA, and of course, athletics. Health instruction is provided to all students in grade six and again in grade nine. In physical education, students at the high school level choose from a menu
051of activities each quarter. At the middle school level, there are fewer choices, but teachers seek to group students by their self-selected level of competitiveness whenever possible. The underlying goal of health and physical education is to prepare students to take responsibility after graduation for developing a personal health plan incorporating fitness activity preferences, dietary choices, and understanding of the risks associated with drug and alcohol abuse, and social-emotional competence. Students begin receiving instruction in art and music in kindergarten and become eligible for vocal and instrumental programs beginning in fourth grade. At the high school level, ensembles expand into two levels in orchestra and three levels in band and chorus. Middle Country hosts a NISMA festival annually and is proud of numerous students earning all county and all state recognition. At the high school level, art students may choose
052courses from four disciplines and may choose to challenge themselves through five advanced placement and dual enrollment courses. Students begin their career and technical education experience in grade seven with courses in entrepreneurship and family and consumer sciences or FACS with a technology course added in grade eight. At the high school level, students have access to course offerings in business, FACS and technology. We also host a cosmetology program in both high schools, providing students completing two years of study with a New York State cosmetology license and ready to begin their career. In total, students have 34 courses to choose from, with seven incorporating embedded capstone research projects and five providing access to either dual enrollment or advanced placement credit. Beyond core instruction and related arts are special programs that still fall within the instructional portion of our
053budget. With over 100 individual teams, we engage hundreds of students each season in our athletics programs. Thanks to close collaboration between coaches and the teachers and administrators in each building, scholar athletes who maintain a 90 average across their classes during season consistently make up 45 to 50 percent of each team each season. Goals of our athletic program include developing teamwork, communication, a commitment to something larger than oneself, and above all, resilience in the face of challenges. Students may be unable to attend school for a range of reasons including medical, psychological, disciplinary, or temporary placement by the Committee on Special Education. When this happens, we continue to provide instruction through either one-to-one tutoring at home or through the HISA program providing instruction to groups of up to five students using a district classroom. Students may be
054assigned to home instruction for as little as a few days to as long as a full academic year and in some cases serves as a hybrid placement for students taking part of their program as traditional classes. You will notice zero allocations for textbooks and supplies as these are provided through each of the underlying departments. For students who are considered at risk for non-graduation, ALC provides a second chance. Each year, about 30 ALC students successfully graduate, while most of those remaining choose to return to the program for the following year. Running from 3.45 to 6.40 p.m. Monday through Thursday, ALC provides up to 65 students the opportunity to take up to six classes and also can grant elective credit to students who are working during the day through a work-based learning program. Secondary students have a
055wide range of co-curricular clubs to choose from after school, allowing them to explore a range of interests with like-minded peers. While co-curriculars use the activity buses, transportation costs are not reflected in this slide, which only shows advisor stipends and associated materials and supply costs. When thinking about our mission statement, it's easy to see that these words describe perfectly how we would want someone meeting a middle country graduate to describe them. So while we're ending on the mission statement, we could just as easily have started with it since it is present at the beginning, the end, and throughout our work crafting and delivering an instructional program for our students. Thank you very much. Thank you. Do any board members have any questions or comments? Thank you very much for that. Board commentary, Ms. Mann-Rodriguez? Yes. Ms.
056Haggerty? Yes. Ms. Feldman? I just want to say congratulations to all the people who were recognized tonight. We are truly blessed with the students we have. Thank you. Mr. Feeney? I just want to give a shout out and acknowledge Selden Middle School. I was invited. They were doing PS I Love You. They were doing it during their lunch periods. And I went. I went to the first lunch period. So it was just getting started. But one of the things I wanted to point out that I saw in the hallway and I absolutely loved, it was a bulletin board. And it said, take what you need. And there were all sticky notes along and, you know, all different sayings. You are brave. you are smart, you belong here, you are needed, and people can, students and
057staff, my understanding is involved in it, you can leave a sticky note for someone else to take, or you could take a sticky note. And I just thought that was great, because we could all use a sticky note every now and then. So I just wanted to say I thought that was a really neat thing, and I wanted to acknowledge that. We have minutes from our regular meeting on February 5th and our special meeting on February 6th. If there are no comments or edits, we'll accept the minutes as they are. I need a motion to accept the consent agenda. Questions, well, instruction, there are no items. Questions, comments, people, personnel, services. Personnel, instructional. Questions, comments, personnel, classified. Finance all those in favor opposed motion carries superintendents report okay we have 25-02-SR-5 shared service agreement with
058one risk operation center it's the RIC 1 ROC ROC and education law 2d all those in favor opposed motion carries policy 25-02-P0-3 second reading of policy 5100 attendance all those in favor opposed motion carries correspondence make sure you're checking your emails your RSVP if anything changes please let myself or Stephanie know unfinished business new business board committee reports mr. Feeney Yes, the Education Advancement Committee met today. Jonathan Singer, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, distributed a draft of a position paper on acceptable and non-acceptable uses of artificial intelligence. There was a wide-ranging discussion on this topic and focused on how we need to teach our students to... behave ethically and appropriately using this learning tool and how we can help our teachers with professional development to address the many issues related to AI, particularly using various detection
059programs. Mr. Singer will now get feedback from the principals and teachers and report back to the committee at our next meeting. Assistant Superintendent Singer then provided a sample of parental letter being sent home by the elementary principals regarding the changes and benefits of having the children take state assessments. There was discussion in the committee regarding the notification of teachers in the next school year by the state on how their students had done in terms of that conversation. And then Director of Math Ryan Milano next distributed a chart depicting the correlation of the math, ELA, and science state assessment scores of our students. in relation to the I-Ready scores. Scores were aligned, but the ability of a student's writing was not really measured well in the I-Ready program. Our next meeting was set up for April
06023rd. Thank you. Anyone else? Ms. Mann. Quickly, the Pride PTSA met on February 10th, 2025, and we had a presenter from the LGBT network, and she... She discussed LGBT 201 which was a follow-up to LGBT 101 that we had a few months ago. Just briefly, I won't get into the weeds, but we just discussed gender expectations, binary versus non-binary. so many things, gender expression, gender pronouns, disparities in experiences in the LGBTQ plus community. We discussed discrimination and the importance of having DASA being displayed around our buildings and for everybody to know the proper process for DASA. to kind of sum it all up, we just need to treat everybody with respect and that's basically it. Thank you. Anyone else, committee or liaison committee reports? Follow-up board discussion? Public input, there was none from our last
061meeting. Ms. Larkin, any this evening? None this evening. Thank you. Okay, I need a motion to adjourn. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you and good evening.